MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

7/8 Minor matters

J.R. Mathes has matched the Iowa Cubs’ franchise record for career wins, picking up No. 38 on Wednesday in a 9-1 victory over Albuquerque. “Obviously, it wasn’t my goal when I first got here,” Mathes told reporters after the game.

Said Iowa pitching coach Mike Mason: “He’s a guy that won’t ‘wow’ anybody with a 98 mile an hour fastball but he … does everything a pitcher needs to do.”

Mathes has yet to get that call to the show.

“He just needs that first break,” Mason said. “Once he gets there, he’ll be appreciated.”

Mathes gave up one run on six hits over seven innings while striking out two. The lefty also had two hits. Bryan LaHair had four hits, including his ninth home run, and drove in two. It was his 10th multi-RBI game of the year. Darwin Barney had two hits, including his second homer, and four RBIs. Jim Adduci had three hits and two RBIs.

* Chris Archer did not give up an earned run over 6 1/3 innings in Tennessee’s 2-0 loss to Jacksonville. Brett Jackson had one of the Smokies’ three hits, and has hit safely in eight of the 11 games he’s played in since being promoted.

* Dae-Eun Rhee gave up four runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings in Daytona’s 5-1 loss to Tampa. David Macias had two hits. David Patton pitched two innings in relief, giving up one run on four hits.

* The Peoria Chiefs won the third “Road to Wrigley,” beating Kane County, 5-2, at Wrigley Field. Robert Whitenack gave up one run on four hits over five innings for the win. Jae-Hoon Ha hit a two-out, three-run homer in the fourth.

* Xavier Batista hit his first home run in Mesa’s 8-2 win over the Brewers. Ryan Cuneo had two RBI and Casey Lambert picked up the win in relief.

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